A Secret Excursion
by iviscrit
Summary: Sequel to "A Sweeping Victory." After the successful annexation of Omashu, Kuvira and Baatar explore the Cave of Two Lovers, or as Kuvira calls it, "the insipid love cave." Baavira.


_Sequel to "A Sweeping Victory."_

* * *

Kuvira crossed her arms over her chest, regarding her fiancé skeptically. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Baatar nodded. "The healer said nothing _strenuous_. A walk in the catacombs isn't remotely strenuous, it'll be fun."

"You're still on crutches," she protested. "I still have to help you bathe-"

"I could probably manage on my own," he said sheepishly. "But I like seeing you play nursemaid.."

Kuvira was unamused. "What if something happens in there? I'm not a trained physician."

"You know enough first aid," he said easily, limping towards her and resting his good hand on her hip. "Besides, you're the greatest metalbender in the world, I'm sure you can protect us from anything dangerous..."

She sighed, beginning to accept that she would not win this argument. "I'll send the troops to do a sweep of the catacombs before we go in. There could be rebels hiding in there for all I know, but if there aren't, we can explore this insipid love cave."

Baatar smiled, tugging her towards him and resting his chin on her shoulder. "That's all I ask."

Claiming and stabilizing Omashu had taken three months, and while the army's overall losses were impressively small, Kuvira knew she had come perilously close to a personal loss of such magnitude that the mere thought left her nauseous. She was not accustomed to playing the role of the caregiver, but she did the best she could, determined that sepsis or gangrene wouldn't take Baatar from her now that he was back with the rest of the camp. He had sustained serious injuries that proved to take weeks of recovery, and Kuvira was determined to do all she could to ease his pain. That first night had been more of an ordeal for her than for him; her sleep had been inconsistent and interrupted by imagined sounds of distress. She had rolled over to check on him more than once, reminding herself that his stillness was nothing to worry about. It hadn't stopped her from repeatedly pressing her hand to his chest, needing reassurance that he was alive and that all would be well, given enough time.

After his injury and some good-natured prodding from Bolin, they had formally announced their engagement to the troops, much to their glee and amusement, and her reservations drained away when she saw that the general response was benign disbelief. Apparently the entirety of their army had suspected something between Baatar and herself for months, and was more shocked that they had managed to hide their relationship and subsequent engagement for as long as they had. In a way, it came as a relief; Kuvira no longer had to think twice about a quick squeeze of hands or a warm smile when her generals were around. Baatar still respected her feelings about major public displays of affection, but with the secret out he was all too happy to hold her hand under the table in meetings or tell her he loved her over radio calls. The healer reassured her that his recovery was proceeding at a normal pace, but Kuvira found it hard to believe as she stood by during the frequent visits to the medi-car. The majority of the burns and lacerations on his chest and arm had healed quickly enough though deeply pigmented scars and uneven tissue now marked the areas, each keloid a permanent reminder of what had transpired. The dressing on the larger burn that spanned his abdomen had yet to come off, though it had been nearly a month since the annexation of Omashu, and she had seen the hypothermia that came with the injury firsthand. More than once, she had wrapped herself around him under the blankets, anxious that he retain as much body heat as possible during the colder nights on the train. The healer had finally deemed him fit for light exercise, and so she was unable to dissuade him from exploring the caverns as they left Omashu, their train stopped a few miles from the border.

"Does it hurt?" she asked for the thousandth time as they explored the cave, her belt weighted down with transmission radios, metal cables, and backup torches.

"No," he said, rolling his eyes. "Did we have to bring the entourage? The troops said everything was safe."

"They're far enough behind us," she said dismissively. "It's like they aren't even here."

"Why do you have lights?" he asked, smiling. "Don't you know the legend of the Cave of Two Lovers?"

Kuvira raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, you don't actually believe that we're supposed to kiss to make the lights come on, do you? It goes against the laws of logic and reason and physics, if those first two don't carry much weight with you."

"That's more symbolic than anything else," he said, taking the torch from her and holding it out of her reach. "Here, let me show you why lights aren't needed."

The automatic torch shut off with a click, and before her eyes had a chance to adjust to the darkness it was gone, the cavern lit up in the cool green glow from jagged crystals that covered the ceiling. She pivoted on the spot, taking in the sight of the natural light source, angular slices of icy green and turquoise that illuminated the caves for as far as she could see. "Amazing," she said softly, letting him take his hands in hers. "Absolutely amazing."

"Yes," he agreed, the cool light reflecting off of his glasses when he turned his face back to hers. "Absolutely amazing," he repeated, but his eyes were no longer on the path before them.

"Look," she said softly, jerking her neck toward the inscription on the statue. "We've found the tomb."

Baatar steered them towards the towering cut-stone monuments, stooping with a soft groan as his side protested the action. "Here's the story," he said, falling silent as he read and chuckling suddenly. "'...One day, the man didn't come- he'd died in the war between the two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending power - she could have destroyed them all,'" he read aloud before he straightened, taking her hands in his again. "What would you have done if I had died?" he teased. "Would you have wiped out the city? Seems excessive."

"Don't joke about that," she said crossly, stepping forward and tugging him towards her by his upper arms, resting her forehead against his. "Besides, Oma didn't wipe out the city, she united the warring villages. Didn't you finish reading the inscription?"

"Sounds like you," he said, smiling as he pulled her against him by the waist and wobbling slightly as the crutch shifted under his arm. She tensed under his hands, reflexively steadying him and worry stealing into her face. "I'm fine, Kuvira," he murmured, their noses brushing as she closed her eyes, her expression gradually relaxing under his touch. "Please, stop worrying about me."

"I can tell you're lying," she said, closing the gap between them and feeling his lips quirk upward against her own. "You're not well at all..."

"You aren't my grandmother or Aiwei," he said, kissing her forehead. "How would you know?"

"I don't need to be a truthseer to know when _you're_ lying to me," she said. letting him lean his weight against her and wrap his arm around her waist as they continued down the path. "How do we get out of here?" she added, frowning. "The tunnels are changing, I can feel it."

"The inscription said Oma and Shu learned earthbending from the badgermoles," Baatar said. "That's how my grandmother learned too... why don't we track them down so you can take lessons?"

Kuvira laughed, the sound echoing through the catacombs. "I thought you said I was the greatest metalbender in the world a few hours ago."

"I did," he said, his flush visible even in the gentle glow from the crystals. "I meant it, too. I was teasing-"

"I know." She smiled, closing her eyes again as he kissed her cheek. "Here, I can feel open ground a few yards away, stand back."

Bending while Baatar was watching her, much like dancing, called for a bit more ceremony and flourish than it did when she was facing an ordinary opponent or audience. Her movements were consciously graceful and fluid, her stances slightly more stylized, and her body angled in such a way to present the most flattering view. As the earth cut apart in neatly shifting bricks under her command, she glanced back at him, the twinkle in his eye magnified by the flickering light from the crystals overhead. She knew he loved watching her and she loved being watched by him, when he looked at her that way.

"Wait," he said suddenly, a hand on her shoulder as sunlight broke through the exit tunnel she had made. "Can I take a few samples?"

Kuvira was puzzled, but she bended off a massive chunk of crystal that jutted from the wall nearby. "Is this enough?" she asked, smiling beneath arched brows. "What is this for, exactly?"

"I just want to run a few tests," he said. "I've read about the mineral, but I've never seen it up close."

"Tell me how much you need," she said, dragging it with them as they left the cave. "You know how much I admire your experiments," she added, closing her eyes as the sunlight washed over them both and Baatar kissed her again, one hand winding into her hair and the other at the small of her back.

o0o

"Baatar," Kuvira said, opening the door to his lab with a metallic crash. "You've been in here for hours, is everything- oh," she said, feeling silly for her frantic tone. "I, um... I thought you might've passed out... well, you're obviously fine, carry on," she said, nodding and starting to leave.

"No, stay," he said. "I just finished anyway."

She raised her eyebrows as she stepped into the lab, craning her neck to get a glimpse at what was behind him on the lab bench. "Couldn't wait to start running your tests on the crystal?"

"Oh, I just did a few checks on the chemical composition," he said. "I needed to make sure that it was safe for human skin-"

"Are you incorporating it into the new armor designs?" she said excitedly, stepping closer. "May I see, or is it a surprise?"

Baatar laughed. "It wasn't for armor," he said, a flush creeping over his neck and ears. "I made you something..."

"Oh?" She crossed her arms over her chest, her amused smile quickly giving way to slack-jawed amazement when he showed her an intricately carved and polished necklace, composed of fractal cut stones from the cave and held together by slim strips and fixtures of platinum. "How?" she said, throwing up her hands and planting them on her hips once she found her voice again. "_How_ do you do this? Are you secretly a bender? There's no other explanation."

"Do you like it?" he asked earnestly, ignoring her question and holding it up. Under the lights, the crystals were a matte alabaster white, the multifaceted cuttings starting small at the edges of the necklace and increasing in size towards the center, bordered at the top by a narrow row of delicate stones and ending in an oblong shard of crystal with a fractal cut and a space for a diamond mount. "I need to get another diamond to match your engagement ring," he said self-consciously, "but it looks complete enough as it is, so I thought you'd like to see it."

"It's impractical, Baatar," she said, removing her neck and shoulder guard so he could hold it around her neck by the platinum chain. "When would I wear it?"

"Maybe for our wedding?" he suggested. "It's a necklace made with crystals from the Cave of Two Lovers, it seems fitting."

Kuvira sighed noisily even as she smiled, returning the necklace to the lab bench. "We need to do something about this nauseatingly romantic streak of yours," she said, placing her arms around his neck and switching off the lights with a gesture. In the new darkness the necklace glowed with the same cool green light that illuminated the crystals in the catacombs, and she kissed his cheek with the same tenderness she had back in the cave. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You're the Great Uniter," he reminded her. "You're stabilizing an entire country in record time, and I get to help. I think _I'm_ the lucky one in this relationship."

She smiled. "Should I imitate the founder of Omashu and erect a monument in your honor to show you how wrong I think you are?"

"Please don't," he said as she switched the lights back on. "Their love story was cut short. Ours will last a lifetime."

Kuvira rolled her eyes. "No need to be so dramatic." Her tone was dry, but for the first time since the accident she felt confident that he would make a full recovery, his steady heartbeat in time with her own and his arms around her.

* * *

**A/N: Written for lucelestial, franny1234 (for her beautiful manip!), and oddania. Hope y'all enjoyed. ** ❤❤❤


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